Germany – Van Oord’s heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen has completed the first of 50 monopiles for the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm.
Van Oord is responsible for the supply, transport, and installation of roughly 70 kilometers of inter-array cables in addition to the delivery and installation of wind turbine foundations.
The Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm is 40 square kilometers in size and is located 30 kilometers northeast of the German island of Rügen. Iberdrola’s Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 476 MW, would provide renewable energy to 475,000 homes while lowering carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 1 million tonnes per year. It will be fully operational by the end of 2024.
Method of installation
The foundation installation strategy is based on the feeder idea, which entails floating the foundations to the Svanen at the offshore installation site. The monopiles are being delivered to the site by EEW from Rostock, Germany. When they arrive, the Svanen raises them to their feet. Pile-driving begins after the gripper has been precisely positioned.
Transporting parts
Van Oord began transporting transition sections from the port of Aviles in Spain to the Van Oord location in the port of Mukran in Germany in early March. The transition parts will be installed in the second quarter. Van Oord’s cable-laying vessel Nexus and trencher Dig-It will be deployed later this year to install and bury the inter-array cables.
Offshore wind potential
The Baltic Sea has enormous offshore wind potential in Europe. Germany and several other nations, including Poland, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia, are looking into new offshore wind potential. The Baltic seafloor is made up of a variety of soil types, making circumstances difficult.
The Svanen is experienced with these conditions because it has previously led several other Baltic projects. The ship has laid over 700 foundations around Europe, including the great majority of monopiles in the Baltic Sea.
